Having managed to avoid the worst of the winter weather our first working party for a while happened over the weekend of 28th-29th January.
As always at least one day was going to be raining (it is the Lake District after all) so a wet Saturday and a dry Sunday was about average. The main activities were to tidy the main path at the far side of the wood from the road and to take out as much of the overhanging trees and bushes that threaten the stability of the dry-stone wall on the eastern boundary adjacent to the Industrial Unit.
As anyone visiting will now see there has been a major success in clearing the guilty parties and our thanks go to the land owner over the wall who has allowed us to stack the brash ready for burning when the weather allows. Great effort by the team and I can vouch for the aches and pains we all felt at the end of two hard days.
Welcome also to Jack Ellerby who has taken a share of the wood and who showed his walling skills in no small measure. Hopefully he can lead us all to better skills in that area and over the years improve the longevity of the remaining boundary walls.
There will be more work to be done in the autumn and we are looking to continue our efforts to diversify the habitat and improve the biodiversity. We have made great strides in five years already and the increase in bird life and plant variety has been very noticeable.
Woodpeckers have highlighted my lack of skills with bird boxes but hopefully we can improve the design with some more protection in the shape of metal plates over the entrance holes on the unprotected boxes.
Keep enjoying the wood and please do not hesitate to comment or update us on anything of interest.